Andeew g



(No Model.)

A.- G. BRANDT.

Sled.

Patented Jan; 4, 18,81;

MPEI'ERS, P

HOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW G. BRANDT, OF SORANTON, PENNSYLVANIA..

SLED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,210, dated January 4, 1881.

Application filed October 21, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW G. BRANDT, of Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Sleighs, of which the following is a specification.

Sleighs or coasting-sleds used by boys are usually made with fixed runners; hence they occupy considerable space in packing for transportation, and they are very much in the way when laid aside for the season.

My present invention consists in combining, with the sleigh body and runners, hinges by which the runners are connected to the body of the sleigh, and braces by which the runners are held in place when turned down for use.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of the sleigh as ready for use; the dotted lines show the runners as folded. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the sleigh. Fig. 3 is a separate view of the runner-hinge, and Fig. 4 is an elevation of the compound bar connecting the runners at the front ends.

The top piece, a, and cross-bearers b will usually be of wood, and they may be of any desired size or character.

The runners c are generally of wood shod with iron; but instead of the wooden spokes or legs usually employed between the runners and the bearers b, I introduce the legs 07., that are preferably of metal, and have feet at their lower ends,to which the runners are attached, and at the upper ends they are sufficiently far apart to pass at each side of the bearers b, and be connected by a hinge or bar, i. I

prefer and use said circular bar toast with each pair of legs and extending from one inclined leg to the other, and this bar is received into a circular opening between the hingepiece h and the lower surface of the crossbearer b. This hinge-piece h is of metal, and it is screwed firmly to the under surface of the bearer b, and it is L-shaped, so that the connecting-plate 0, that unites the legs, may rest against the end 0" of the hinge-piece and prevent the runners spreadingoutwardly; but at the same time the runners can be easily turned inwardly against the under side of the cross-bearers b, to fold the sleigh for transportation.

It is to be understood that there will be two or three of the aforesaid legs and hinges (No model.)

to connect each runner to the ends of the cross-bearers b b,- and in order to hold the runners when open for use, 1 provide the braces m, that are in the form of bars, that are confined to the under side of the sleigh in the angles between the top and the cross-bearers b by means of loops or clamps n, and. the ends of the bars are at aninclination, and the ends hooked, as shown, so that each bar can be turned and its ends form braces between the runners and the body of the sleigh to keep the runners from folding inwardly when in use. These braces are sprung in between the runners, and hence they can be turned aside for folding the sleigh after the runners have been sprung apart sufficiently to relieve the hook ends of the braces.

There is a bar, u, at the front end of the sleigh, extending from one runner to the other, and the ends are attached by bolts but as the bolts are farther apart when the sleigh is folded than they are when the runner is in place for use, I make this as a compound bar formed of a rod running into a tube, so that the rod can draw partially out of the tube when the sleigh is folded.

This improvement, although primarily intended for a boys hand-sled, may be applied to larger sleighs.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in a sleigh, of the top a, cross-pieces b, runners 0, legs d, and hinges upon the cross-pieces b, connecting the runner-legs to such cross-pieces, and braces between the runners and the cross-pieces b, to hold the runners in position for use, substantially as set forth.

2. The runner-legs made with the hingebars *5 and connecting-plates 0, in combination with the -shaped hinge-pieces h, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with the folding runners of a sleigh, the bar a, formed of a rod and pipe attached at the respective ends to the runners by bolts, as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed by me this 15th day of October, A. D. 1880.

ANDREW G. BRANDT.

Witnesses:

HENRY MoLEoD, S. M. NASH. 

